Oct
13
2015
Tuesday Seminar
Speaker:
Sujoy Chakravarty
Date and Time:
Tue, 13/10/2015 - 12:00am
Schedule:
02:57 PM to 04:27 PM
Venue:
HSS Committee Room (MS 610)
Abstract
Using three rounds (61st, 66th and 68th) of the NSSO consumer surveys covering a span of 8 years (2004-2012), we estimate the level of dependence on common pool resources (CPRs) for food and fuel among households in rural India. We find that freely collected items of food and fuel accounted for between 8 and 9 percent on average of total household expenditures for tribal households and between 3 and 5 percent of expenditures for non-tribal households. Though the all India averages for the ratio of the value of freely collected goods to total expenditure are below 10 percent for all MPCE classes, there are households for whom free collection accounts for over half the monthly consumption value. Our clustered tobit estimates show that tribal, female headed and poorer households show a higher dependence on free collection than average, whereas landowning households and those with a regular wage earner show a lower dependence on freely collected items of food and fuel. At a district level we observe that the free collection ratio increases with forest cover. Our analysis indicates that CPRs in the form of freely collected items of food and fuel offers a consumption safety net particularly for poor tribal households. The results have deep implications for compensation given by development, industrial and conservation projects that acquire commons land and relocate households. Besides the loss of agricultural livelihood, the household may also forego consumption benefits that arise from appropriating CPRs.
Bio
Sujoy Chakravarty received his Ph.D in Economics from Purdue University in 2002. He has since then been on the faculty of various institutions such as the University of Texas at Dallas, Indian Institute of Management, Indian Institute of Technology and Institute of Management Technology. He is currently Associate Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University. His research and teaching interests include experimental and behavioural economics, applied microeconomics and economic development. His research has been published in journals such as Review of Industrial Organization, Theory and Decision, Southern Economic Journal, Environment and Development Economics, Economic and Political Weekly, Global Business and Economics Review and Decision Support Systems.
Using three rounds (61st, 66th and 68th) of the NSSO consumer surveys covering a span of 8 years (2004-2012), we estimate the level of dependence on common pool resources (CPRs) for food and fuel among households in rural India. We find that freely collected items of food and fuel accounted for between 8 and 9 percent on average of total household expenditures for tribal households and between 3 and 5 percent of expenditures for non-tribal households. Though the all India averages for the ratio of the value of freely collected goods to total expenditure are below 10 percent for all MPCE classes, there are households for whom free collection accounts for over half the monthly consumption value. Our clustered tobit estimates show that tribal, female headed and poorer households show a higher dependence on free collection than average, whereas landowning households and those with a regular wage earner show a lower dependence on freely collected items of food and fuel. At a district level we observe that the free collection ratio increases with forest cover. Our analysis indicates that CPRs in the form of freely collected items of food and fuel offers a consumption safety net particularly for poor tribal households. The results have deep implications for compensation given by development, industrial and conservation projects that acquire commons land and relocate households. Besides the loss of agricultural livelihood, the household may also forego consumption benefits that arise from appropriating CPRs.
Bio
Sujoy Chakravarty received his Ph.D in Economics from Purdue University in 2002. He has since then been on the faculty of various institutions such as the University of Texas at Dallas, Indian Institute of Management, Indian Institute of Technology and Institute of Management Technology. He is currently Associate Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University. His research and teaching interests include experimental and behavioural economics, applied microeconomics and economic development. His research has been published in journals such as Review of Industrial Organization, Theory and Decision, Southern Economic Journal, Environment and Development Economics, Economic and Political Weekly, Global Business and Economics Review and Decision Support Systems.